


Not Your Mother's Bodyguard

by lunaofthemiste



Category: Battle for London in the Air (Roleplay)
Genre: Gen, Season 2, good ol' teenage rebellion, history repeats itself, somewhat canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27812341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaofthemiste/pseuds/lunaofthemiste
Summary: Helena's parents want what's best for her safety, so they ask a familiar face to look after her.  Unfortunately, Helena has other ideas.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4
Collections: Battle for London-in-the-Air Canon





	Not Your Mother's Bodyguard

Helena continued her brisk walk across the Golden Crossing, clutching the newspaper she had in her hand. At this point, she was determined to make it to her destination one way or another - it might have been just a feeling, but she knew that the advertisement in the newspaper was important somehow. A hunch, perhaps, but Helena knew to trust her gut feeling - it was usually right.

“Helena, please!”

Helena scowled as she turned around to face the newest problem she’d been dealt. As much as her parents valued her independence, they still seemed irrationally worried that something would happen to her when she traveled around the platforms. Helena knew that her mother often thought of the incident when she was three, but that was so long ago, and she could defend herself! She was a Curtis, for crying out loud, a family that was generally great at protecting themselves.

Unfortunately, as soon as Oscar Sherry arrived, bringing the World’s Fair with him, the issue of safety rose once again. Suddenly, it was no longer okay for Helena to galavant around the city by herself. Suddenly, she required a _bodyguard_ to accompany her, which she found completely ridiculous. The most frustrating part about him finding her this time (because unfortunately, there had been prior incidents) was that she had been _so_ careful. She even left through the window of her third-floor bedroom, careful to not make a sound! It should have been easy, but it seemed that she had underestimated him.

“What?” Helena asked as if she had done nothing wrong.

Oscar gave her a look which implied that she had done some wrong. “I think you know what. You know the arrangement with your parents.” Of course, the arrangement - which was stupid - that she had to be accompained by Oscar whenever she left the house. The same rules applied to Barry, but he rarely left the house anyways, so the rules barely impacted his life. 

Helena rolled her eyes. “The arrangement is terrible. I’ve been allowed to travel as I please and _now_ I have to have some person follow me around! I’m _nearly_ nineteen, I can take care of myself.”

“I am perfectly aware that you can,” Oscar crossed his arms. “I know Tristan - your father - would have trained you well, but there are numerous threats in the city, especially now that the World’s Fair is here.”

“I understand the danger, but I also understand that you wanted to lie low. What was it you said to my parents - ‘ _I’d prefer that my arrival is kept private until further notice_.’?” Helena smirked. “Following me around isn’t lying low.”

Oscar gestured to his hat and jacket, which were more common than the clothes her parents preferred. “No one will even notice me, especially if they don’t know me.”

“Well, regardless of…” she paused, trying to find the right word, “that, I was going to visit my cousins at the manor, so I don’t think you should come. There’s no danger, and it’s very close by,” Helena shrugged. “You can tell my mother I’ll be home in time for dinner,” she added, as she turned and continued walking in her original direction towards Delta. It was a lie, obviously, but she couldn’t let Oscar know that. She just wanted him gone, especially since he just felt like a third parent.

“You’re not nearly as good of a liar as your mother,” Oscar yelled after her, which stopped her in her tracks.

“What did you say?” Helena asked in disbelief as she turned to face him once again.

Oscar smiled smugly. “The Tyler manor is that way,” he pointed in the direction of Alpha, “so you can’t possibly be going there. Also, your mother mentioned that her sister-in-law and her children were on holiday until tomorrow,” he explained precisely. “I’m not as stupid as I look.”

“I see,” Helena frowned, crossing her arms. “That’s unfortunate.”

“It is,” Oscar agreed. “So are you going to tell me where you’re actually going?”

Helena groaned. “I’d rather not.”

“Then we’ll go back to Gamma,” Oscar crossed his arms.

“Why are you taking _their_ side? Don’t you understand that I don’t need a bloody babysitter? I doubt Aine O’Rourke has to have someone follow her around,” Helena argued, though she had a sinking suspicion it sounded more like a whiny complaint of a child.

Oscar sighed. “Because I can see the reason in it,” he answered after a pause. “Unfortunately, both of your parents have made enemies during their years here, whether they meant to or not. I don’t intend to be a babysitter, but I need to make sure you don’t get yourself killed on my watch.”

Helena frowned. “You really think the city is that bad?”

“It’s complicated. No city is perfect, London is unfortunately no different. There are always people who disagree with you and will want to take it out on you at any cost.”

Helena nodded, walking over to one of the benches on the crossing and sitting on it. “This is so unfair,” she muttered, crossing her arms.

Oscar walked over to her, a puzzled look on his face. “Are you protesting?”

“Yes.” What else could she do?

“You do know how ridiculous that is, right?”

“I don’t care,” Helena scowled. “No offense but the whole ordeal is bloody ridiculous.”

To her surprise, Oscar smiled slightly and sat down next to her. “Would it make you feel better if I said your mother said the same thing? She worded it differently, but the sentiment is the same.”

Helena turned to Oscar in surprise. “You’re kidding.”

“She objected to my hiring as soon as she found out from her father. She never said anything directly to me, but she actively ignored me for a while, which only made my job harder,” Oscar explained. “Two different methods, same sentiment.”

Helena sighed, leaning back on the bench. “Then _why_ is she making me have one if she hated it so much?”

“Your mother is worried about your safety,” Oscar pointed out. “She probably wouldn’t have done this if I wasn’t back in town or the World’s Fair wasn’t here.”

“Right,” Helena nodded. Her parents had spoke of Oscar before, but their words were vague and often sad. There was always something they were holding back, but Helena knew better than to push for answers. Honestly, Helena had assumed that Oscar had died years ago based on the way her parents talked about him, but things were different now that he was back in her family’s lives. “Why now?”

Oscar frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Why did you come back now? I mean, it can’t _just_ be the Fair, right?” Helena asked.

“It’s complicated. I’ve already said the same to your parents,” Oscar said. “I was never sure of whether returning would be right for a while, or at all, honestly. I didn’t want to mess up the lives they built here with my problems.”

“Well, I don’t think you’re messing things up,” Helena shrugged. “Mum seemed very happy to see you again, Dad too. I think in their eyes there isn’t anything you could do to mess things up,” she added, mostly because she felt like he needed to hear it.

“Really?” Oscar asked, seemingly genuinely surprised. 

“Really,” Helena agreed. “The only thing that you’re messing up is the bodyguard thing. I still think that’s unnecessary.”

“Alright,” Oscar sighed. “I don’t want to break my word to your mother, but how about I make you a deal?” He bargained. “When you’re going to somewhere in the area or the bookshop, I won’t accompany you. Anywhere else, I’ll follow from a distance. I won’t interfere unless there’s danger, it’ll be like I’m not even there.”

“Why?” Helena asked, suspicious.

“You’re right, things are different here than they were twenty years ago. Many changes have been made in the city, so you should be fine if I’m not at your side all of the time.”

Helena nodded, wondering if she was going to get any better than that. “Will you tell my parents where I go if I ask you not to?”

“I won’t unless there’s trouble, but I also won’t be able to lie to your mother if she asks me directly,” Oscar answered. “She’s very good at spotting liars.”

“I know,” Helena said, taking a deep breath. “I’m following an advertisement for an detective in Xi,” she told him. “That’s where I’m going.”

Oscar frowned. “Why do you need a detective?”

“I’m following a hunch, and that’s all I’ll speak of it,” Helena said crossly, not adding that part of her wondered if it was the woman that she met at the bookshop weeks ago, the one that was constantly stuck in her head. She couldn’t help that she was curious, too - the small advertisement’s wording matched some of what the woman said. It was a longshot that it was _actually_ the woman, but she wanted to try anyways.

Oscar exhaled, standing up. “Well, we’d better get going before it’s dark.”

“Really?” Helena asked in disbelief. 

“I keep my word,” Oscar shrugged. “You can explain where we’ve been to your mother, though.”

“Deal,” Helena nodded, doing her best to hide her own smile. Maybe having Oscar around wasn’t such a bad thing after all.


End file.
